North Church manual, 1742–1867 · scan page 15

Searchable source text

f
mined  that  the  "New  Light  church"  and  its  revivals  I
should  be  "put  out."    Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  afterward  ;
President  of  Princeton  College,  was  arrested  for  preach-  i
ing  here,  "within  the  limits  of  the  First  Parish,"  and  was  |
transported  from  the  Colony  as  a  vagrant.    The  students
were  forbidden  to  atiend  its  worship,  and  David  Brainerd,  i
for  disobedience  of  this  law,  was  expelled  from  College.  |
The  Act  of  Toleration  itself  was  soon  repealed,  "in  order  '{
to  suppress  enthusiasm."    And  Avhen,  in  1744,  the  house  \
of  Mr.  Timothy  Jones — still  standing  on  the  Northwest  |
corner  of  State  and  Court  streets — becoming  too  small,  |
they  were  refused  a  place  on  the  public  square,  they  built  |
an  edifice  on  the  corner  of  Elm  and  Church  streets,  like  •
t
the  workmen  of  Nehemiah,  having  tool  in  one  hand  and  ■)
weapon  in  the  other  to  keep  the  timbers  from  being  de-  |
stroyed.  During  the  raising  a  remonstrance  was  read  |
against  this  "  public  nuisance,"  and  no  opposition  was
gpared.  But  "the  more  they  were  afflicted,  the  more
they  grew."  At  length  they  entered  into  their  house  tri-
umphantly. This  was  the  building,  which  twenty  years
later  was  enlarged,  its  front  changed  from  Elm  to  Church
street,  a  steeple  added,  and  became  known,  from  its  color,
as  the  "  Blue  Meeting  House."
In  1Y48,  the  revivals  having  outlived  the  opposition  on
the  one  side  and  the  extravagance  attending  them  on  the
other,  a  "  solemn  deed "  was  signed  by  sixty  men  and  ^  I
one  woman,  promising  Rev.  John  Curtiss  an  honorable
support  of  £350  old  tenor,  a  dwelling  house,  forty  loads
of  wood  and  the  avails  of  occasional  contributions."
r.
I'

Cite this page

Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P003-0015. North Church manual, 1742–1867, printed page not verified, PDF page 15. North Church (New Haven, Conn.). 4n; digitized copy contributed by Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center https://archive.org/details/manualofnorthchu00nort/page/n15/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

Historic U.S. publication before 1931; public-domain assessment based on publication date. Internet Archive does not necessarily provide an explicit license. Preserve publication and digitizing credits.